Land Development Ordinance - Amended 6-3-2024

(1) Required Open Space . Planned Unit Development Districts shall reserve no less than 25% of the gross project acreage as dedicated open space.

(2) Primary Open Space Areas . Primary areas represent sensitive environmental and/or significant cultural resources considered unbuildable in a legal or practical sense. Therefore, primary areas shall be classified as conservation easements and it is mandatory that 100% of these areas be preserved as primary open space required to meet the dedicated open space requirement; except as approved by the Town and/or other governmental agency related to grading, filling, retaining walls, permitting or other approved construction that mitigates a primary open space area. The minimum dedicated open space percentage shall not supersede State or Federal regulations and standards for the protection of wetlands, floodplains, riparian buffers or other protected environmental features. Primary open space areas include: A. Wetlands . Wetlands, including but are not limited to, streams, creeks, ponds, reservoirs, and adjoining land areas, and shall be determined by a site analysis conducted by a registered engineer, land surveyor, landscape architect, architect, land planner, or soil scientist using criteria regulated by the US Army Corps of Engineers.

i. Flood Prone Areas . Floodplains (100 year and alluvial soils) determined by one (1) or more of the following:

ii. Soil Survey . The Wake County, North Carolina Soil Survey prepared by the USDA Soil Conservation Service or as determined by a registered soil scientist in compliance with Town Policy.

iii. FEMA . The Flood Insurance Study: Wake County, NC prepared by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

iv. Flood Study . Flood studies prepared by a registered engineer and approved by the Town or FEMA, where FEMA has not mapped a floodplain for a stream or creek.

B. Steep Slopes . Natural Steep Slopes defined as greater than 25% and determined by a site analysis conducted by a registered engineer, land surveyor, landscape architect, architect or land planner and calculated using topographic maps from an actual survey, the US Geological Survey, or Wake County topographic maps.

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